Manufacture of brush equipment



y 3, 1950 UMWTFTENCHELMAIER MANUFACTURE OF BRUSH EQUIPMENT Filed May 2, 1946' Egg-Em g VIIIIII).'4 /IIIIIII INVENTOR, Wz'ZZ-z'am ZZ'WcheZ n ai e 1;

BY W ML.

AT /VEY Patented May 23, 1950 STATES 01E EILCE 1' Thie -inventionwrelates to the-manufacture of Dims-hing equipments While it' has partii:ul'arhi-in vfewto 'improve and simplify the "manufactureofiotaiy brushes and tctproduee an efficient and 2 posited so 'as to form what Itr'm aI-I anchorage layer on 'a suitable backing and. while" this layer stillremainsin such liquid state the tiift heads are thrust into the layer, apparatus being present diirable bi'ush of*tlien'otarytype'it 'isnot to be 52: which: at once supports the 'l'ayer'-=coated backing understood "that it is liinited to sue-h brushes r in=a respects In thisi artit ls -kizown td Wrap a "flexible strip in 'helidakformy or it inay be-a number-of flexibleannular strips in side-by-sidparallef dispositidm t myfipecifi'purposqth unit formed by the around a cyli-iidfie'alt core-*and employ such strip or strips as an anchorage for tufts oi bristles" wfricharetct project-radially from the core, the anehering beingeifeeted eoincidentally'with the wrapping; ln order'tofdrm"such'tufts inherently 15 as units to be employed in that'proced'iire or my procedure hereinafter-explained'ipropose as fol ldwsr A considerablnumber orcluster of bristles with theirends aIl" in the sameplane are "to be ripped by amcre or less: narrow band in such 0 manner that the latter projects beyond the said plane and thereby-forms the resulting "package =a -wel lbr 'sink' Withthi'sweil facing upwardl'y',*- a* laye'1', of -suitable -dpth; 'of "a suitable" plastic -i as rubber) in liquid statte-is" to be depos-'-- itecl-ftherein and tllen allbwed te seep down be'- tween the bristles until their upper end portions 2 become inimured individually therein for-a suitable depth-5' as'an' eiel-ithofan' inch" or more. The plastic is their 'to 'be set tas; mane *case of tub been by vulcanizing' on'cur-ing)" so I that a unit is" fdrmed-corzrprisingthe ensues and" the plastic as a bindiiielayer individually din-mining their said end portions.- Tfin iri crossing equallyspaced Pl nes pa allel t 5bi'i5tl5i this-unit is to I b-severed-to prodtice' a number of'sub unitsy or the required tufts; -each comprising a groupmf F bi'istle'sand a *head which -is a-seg-ment f of the saidbindiiiig-layer? 'The=forming-'of'-a=rota'ry brush in the manner above refersed'to is' 'w'slovr and' 'tedibus operation; requiring' eonsieirableskill and ca-rein' its per= formance, 1. ea;- beeanse'theanchbring' of the was isiieficted coi'neidentallii -with the wrapping of the stri-p or strips around-the core; According tci this "present invention the tuf themselves prociu'ced "generall'gfinathe'mannerrabove set forth, aremadeto form witlia St-Th5: or"other backing ai unit; if such strip or other backing is flexible said innit may,thenlbswound.helically or other- 50':

wfs'e around aisuitable' core .i'n';th'e forming of la rotarylbrusha Such'nnit'. is).fdrmedggenerallye,stated, as follows: Havinggth'eheadaddiuftga settabl'eiplastic and serves td guidethe 'tuft's'. Wliif thetlift heads remain thus in theanchorage layer the latt'er ismad tdset-"(ats in the'case of rubber," by -curing or vulcanization); If gas in"accord ance backing, ,anchoragelayer and tufts when such latyerhas so set is toform-a component-of a rotary brush, i. "e., to be wrapped-J around'a suitable core; I the setting referred to is dveldpedbnlyuntil the layer remains pliable. Thebacking in'such' case; being "of flexible material, as a. suitable metahl. said unit may then be flexed to the required form. to fitthe brush'core 'and'subje'ct'ed to suchtrea'tmeat-as will set the anchorage, layento the. .ulti mate hard oriapproximately h'ardfstate requlr'edt. in the ultimate brush product) It'is 0i advantage to have leach vtuftheaded thus to exist. as. a.;unit.. But thene iisathisi further l important .advantage'wwithout the heads and" with ..the plastic Lthat liswtowformathe anchorage r layer sufiici'ently free-flowing ,to impregnate the: immersedi bristles," by capillary! attraction. .the plastie would rise :to leaveathetuitwrooteddn. moundwlikely; -to encourage sbreaking oti: of the bristles when-subjectedto bending in the-use ofs the finishedbrushing device. But withth-e heads present the -1 liquid: may-= bee: non-tree-fiowing? whereforeron immersionci a head-ed? tuft it can not become rooted without d'epressiion' of the layer eb1""0f" bristles in'all planes parallerwithany of" its si'd'es"(not true oftheusual 'cross=sectio'nally ci-rcnla'r tuft)'; giving it thereforeincreased sturd'i' mess:-

Fig; 1 shows inside elevation," partly broken away, the mentioned package;wltlftheplastic; whicninliquidstate waspla'cedin its well "or sink, havingseeped down betweemthe bristles and been made'to set;

Fig. '2 "is a top plain view thereof Fi'gl' 3 shows one of the headed tufts developed from the package by severing;

4 shows'in'sicle elevation, partlyin section; the. assembled apparatus, in backing; anchorage (31S 'rllbbr) iii suitably .iillickIffililid state 'is (16-1 bylalyer tl'iereon and" tiiftSj' Fig. 5 is a fragmentary isometric view of the form of backing shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a similar view of the assembled backing, anchorage layer and tufts; and

Fig. '7 is an end view of a cylindrical brush embodying an assembly of headed tufts and appearing partly in solid and partly in dotted outline.

In Fig. l a cluster of substantially equal-length bristles I is shown with the corresponding ends,

as here the upper butt ends, of the bristles all in a common plane and the cluster tightly gripped by a band 2 whose upper margin extends above said plane and thereby forms with said ends of the bristles a sink or well 3; and into this well has been deposited a liquid plastic, as rubber, which has then seeped down between the bristles to the depth shown to form a binding layer I support the anchorage layer at least until the headed tufts became anchored is omitted, having been removed.

When in the appended claims I use the term headed tufts I mean each of such headed tufts to include, with a tuft of bristles as that term is commonly used in this art, a plastic which exists impregating a limited part of the length of such tuft at one end thereof and, by binding the bristles thereof together,forms'with the tuft a unit.

In all aspects of my invention certain features hereinbefore referredto are not essential, for instance: That the binding medium a for each headed tuft beset to some particular state (so as -to be left pliable) when it is immersed in the an- .chora elayer; or that what I term the body:

and thereupon has been set, as by curing, but (in this example) only to the state in which it is pliable. The resulting unit is then severed on the dotted crossing lines 5 of' Fig. 2, producing the mentioned tufts a, headed ata', such as is shown in Fi 3.

At'G is a suitable base having upstanding pegs or standards Ba which enter sockets i ina template 8, the template being thus removable. This template may have any form, as here elongated, and any required arrangement of holes 9, all here upright and parallel and penetrating it.

On the base is seated the backing i 0, which for the purpose immediately in hand is of flexible material, as a metal. In this example the backing is a strip having its longitudinal margins upturned to form flanges Illa and to give the backing the form of a liquid-holder or sink; its resulting groove may have its otherwise open ends temporarily closed by some. plastic masses, such as at H.

,. With the. backing seated on the base and the template in position, as shown,. and with liquid plastic l2, as rubber, depositedon the backing, the tufts a are introduced, headed ends down, through the respective holes in the template and until their headed ends preferably rest" on the backing and are thus immersed in the plastic layer 12 as shown in Fig. 4.

Thereupon, while the tufts are maintained in this state (as by preserving intact'the assembly shown) the plastic I2 is made to'set, as by vulcanizing, to form the anchorage layer but in the present example only to the state in which it is flexible. The plastic is of course of the class which, as rubber, in vulcanizing or curing will adhere to the backing.

The unit then formed by the backing, anchorage layer I2 and headed tufts is then removed from the apparatus comprising the base and template and subjected to such flexing as is required to adapt it to the particular curvature or other cross-sectional form of the core l3 of the ultimate brush to be produced, and when it has been flexed to such form it is subjected again to vulcanizing or equivalent setting step to convert the anchorage layer to the desired hard state. The material of the backing is preferably such that it retains substantially whatever state to which it is flexed.

As indicated, at the time of entering the tufts through the template their heads a are still pliable so that, although they are polygonal and the (usually round) holes in the template so restricted in size as to grip firmly the tufts, such heads may by effort be forced through the holes.

'state, flexing the unit thus formed by the bristles and said body and, while said unit remains so In Fig. 7 a brushing device is shown in which whatever served (as the mentioned backing) to as l2, in which the headed tufts become anchored be a layer in the sense that it has limited or moderate thickness; or that such body be in adhering relation to or otherwise associated with some form of backing in the brushing device that may be produced by resort to my method; or that, in the procedureby which bristles becomerooted or anchoredin a body which is initially a settable plastic in liquid state but ultimately is set to anchor the bristles, the latter necessarily are arranged in the form of tufts whether headed or not, or how the impregnating to form the binding layer 4 is effected.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim is:

l. The method of forming a brushing device.- which consists in disposing a number of headed i tufts in side by side relation and with their headed.

ends all directed toward and substantially coincident with a common plane, while maintaining the tufts thus related subjecting them, headed ends down, to immersion in, but so as to leave allthe bristles thereof protruding from, a body of settable plastic in liquid state and, while the tufts are maintained so related and remain also im- I mersed, setting said body to solid but only to flexible state, flexing the unit thus formed by the headed tufts and said body and, while said unit remains so flexed, setting said body to less flexible state.

bristles thereof protruding from, a body of setbody to solid but only flexible state, flexing the unit thus formed by the headed tufts, body and backing and, while said unit remains so fiexed,-

setting said body to lessflexible state.

3. The method of forming a, brushing device .which consists in supporting bristles in upright i "state and with their lower ends substantially coincident with a horizontal plane and immersed in a body of settable plasticin liquid state and, I while said ends remain so supported and immersed, setting said body but only to flexible flexed, setting said body to lessfiexible state.

4. The method of forming a rotary brushing. device which comprises forming a body of settable 5 plastic in liquid state on one broad surface of an elongated flexible backing member to which said plastic will adhere, assembling a plurality of headed tufts of bristles in side-by-side relation and with their headed ends all directed toward and substantially coincident with a common plane, immersing the tufts maintained in such relationship with their headed ends down into the plastic on the flexible backing member, and while the tufts are maintained so related and their headed ends remain so immersed, setting said body of plastic to solid but only flexible state, bending the unit thus formed by the headed tufts, the plastic body, and the flexible backing member in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the flexible backing member so as to form at least a substantial portion of an annulus, and while said unit remains so flexed setting the plastic body to a substantially rigid state.

WILLIAM F. ENCI-IELMAIER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 709,610 Schreiner Sept. 23, 1902 1,413,211 Albright Apr. 18, 1922 1,536,367 Hulquist Dec. 1, 1925 1,785,391 Russell Dec. 16, 1930 2,078,358 Wright Apr. 27, 1937 2,294,480 Rohweder Sept. 1, 1942 2,366,877 Schlegel Jan. 9, 1945 

